With a name derived from the Greek for “red”, ruby’s technical definition as the red variety of the mineral corundum was actually decided upon relatively recently. As a result, modern gemology has since re-classified some history’s most famous “rubies” as red spinels.

First discovered around 500 AD, northern Burma’s Mogok deposits continue to produce the world’s finest “pigeon blood” material. However, when Myanmar temporarily cut itself off from the rest of the world during the 1960s and 1970s, the eastern Thai city of Chanthaburi became the world’s only viable ruby source. As the deposit's overly dark stones required heat-based treatments to make them saleable, this represented the dawn of today's high-tech gemstone enhancement industry.

While superior ruby localities have since been discovered in eastern Africa, especially within Mozambique, another legacy of this period remains with Chanthaburi’s continued status as the world’s foremost gemstone enhancement, cutting and trading hub.